There are conventionally known bidirectional switch circuits in which two switching elements are connected to conduct a current in both directions. In such bidirectional switch circuits, as described in, for example, PATENT DOCUMENTS 1 and 2, switching elements, such as IGBTs, MOSFETs, or the like, which include antiparallel diodes may be connected so that the antiparallel diodes are oriented in opposite directions, or a pair of reverse blocking IGBTs may be connected in antiparallel.
The aforementioned bidirectional switch circuits are used in, for example, a switching circuit for a matrix converter described in PATENT DOCUMENT 2, a power factor improvement circuit for a power conversion circuit described in PATENT DOCUMENT 3, and the like.